Orthodox Daily Readings

Old Testament: Isaiah 49:6-10

6th Hour

6 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.

7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him Whom the nation abhors, to the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord Who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, Who has chosen You.”

8 Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;

9 that You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ “They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.

10 They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them.

Old Testament: Genesis 31:3-16

Vespers, 1st reading

3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”

4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock,

5 and said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.

6 “And you know that with all my might I have served your father.

7 “Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.

8 “If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked.

9 “So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

10 “And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted.

11 “Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’

12 “And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

13 ‘I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’”

14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

15 “Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money.

16 “For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”

Old Testament: Proverbs 21:3-21

Vespers, 2nd reading

3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

4 A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin.

5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

6 Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.

7 The violence of the wicked will destroy them, because they refuse to do justice.

8 The way of a guilty man is perverse; but as for the pure, his work is right.

9 Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

10 The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

11 When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise; but when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

12 The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked, overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness.

13 Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.

14 A gift in secret pacifies anger, and a bribe behind the back, strong wrath.

15 It is a joy for the just to do justice, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.

16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.

17 He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

18 The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright.

19 Better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman.

20 There is desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it.

21 He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.

Epistle: Hebrews 7:26-8:2

Epistle, St. Innocent

26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;

27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

Gospel: John 10:1-9

Matins Gospel, St. Innocent

1 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

Gospel: John 10:9-16

Gospel, St. Innocent

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.

13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.

15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Commemorated on this day

Repose of St. Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow, Enlightener of the Aleuts and Apostle to the Americas (1879). St. Hypatius the Wonderworker, Bishop of Gangra (ca. 336). Repose of St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia (1461). Ven. Hypatius the Healer, of the Kiev Caves (Far Caves—14th c.). Ven. Apollonius, Ascetic, of Egypt (4th c.). Hieromartyr Avdas, Bishop of Persia, and Martyr Benjamin the Deacon (418-424). Ven. Hypatius, Abbot of Rufinus in Chalcedon (ca. 446). Appearance of the “Ivḗron” (Iberian) Icon of the Mother of God.